Tobacco press



Feb. 28, 1950 s. HATHAWAY ET AL. 2,499,310

TOBACCO PRESS Filed Feb. 17, 1948 ii gli if/ l 3] I5 l@ ll EBI IB j INVENTOR STANLEY HATHAWAY a. ||.A.BOST

ATTORNEY Patented Feb. Z8, 1950 TOBACCO PRESS Stanley Hathaway and vHenry A. Bost, Greenville, N. C.

Application February 17, 1948, Serial No. 8,925

` '5 claims. (c1. 10o-57) This invention relates to tobacco presses and more particularly to presses and auxiliary equipment for filling hogsheads with tobacco or other substance.

Tobacco is shipped in hogsheads, and it is desirable that the relatively loose tobacco be substantially compressed in order that the hogshead may be lilled for shipment or the like; and to accomplish this purpose, it has been customary to press down the tobacco in a hogshead being filled by a press hydraulically or otherwise operated.

Hogsheads for tobacco are approximately 46" in diameter and 48 in height and when lled or substantially lled with tobacco are quite heavy, requiring substantial force to move them. In order to facilitate handling, the hogshead is placed on a small truck or dolly and is moved or conveyed to a position over or above the upper end of a piston which is hydraulically actuated to raise the truck or dolly and hogshead of tobacco supported thereon until the tobacco within the hogshead comes in contact with a stationary cooperating head further movement serving to compress the tobacco. Manual labor has been employed for moving the trucks or dollies with the hogshead thereon to a position to be engaged by the head of the piston in order that the stationary head might enter the hogshead. Also manual labor has been employed for operating controls for supplying the hydraulic fluid to the piston for raising and lowering the same.

Considerable skill`has been required on the part of the operators in properly centering the hogsheads and when they were improperly centered, destruction or severe damage to the hogsheads have occurred as well as occasional injury to personnel.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved press for use in compressing tobacco or other substance within a hogshead or other receptacle in order to reduce the amount of labor and attention necessary to be given to the press during its operation, or in other words, to render the device more fully automatic.

A further object of the invention is to accomplish the above-mentioned results without substantial increase in cost but with ability for guiding the movement of the hogshead or receptacle as it is placed upon the press and moved relative to the stationary head thereof lfor compressing the tobacco or other material.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the iollowingspecication taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation illustrating diagrammatically a portion of a press in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2, a vertical section on the line 2-2 of 2 Fig. 1, showing only the hogshead and charger in section;

Fig. 3, a horizontal section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. fl, a fragmentary detail of a portion of the head of the press viewed on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5, a further detail of a portion of the press `head with its associated roller assembly.

The press of the present invention comprises a stationary head lll and a movable head Il supported by a piston l2 operating in a cylinder of conventional construction, not shown. When in operative position the upper surface of the head II is normally flush with the oor I3, the head being housed in a socket I4 in the floor. By the application of hydraulic fluid, also not shown, the piston I2 with the head Il may be caused to move vertically toward the head Ill.

The stationary head Ill is supported by vertical posts or supports I5, of which there are preferably four in number, and the upper ends of these posts are attached to one or more roof members I6 mounted upon a plurality of uprights or supporting posts ll having enlarged feet I8 which rest upon the floor I3. Thus in order to compress an object such object need only be placed between the heads I0 and II and the piston elevated.

The uprights or supports Il are spaced apart suiiiciently to permit a hogshead I9 containing tobacco or other compressible material, to be moved between the same. The hogshead may preferably be supported upon a truck or dolly 2li of conventional construction having rollers 2| which facilitate the movement of the dolly over the floor I3.

In order to assist in positioning the dolly with its hogshead thereon between the uprights I1 in the proper manner to telescope over the head of the piston so that the contents may be compressed, a pair of guides 22 may be employed. These guides may be yieldably fastened to the uprights Il by means of relatively heavy cushioning springs 23.

Thus-when the dolly 2D is rolled into position over the head vof the piston Il and the'guide 22 is encountered the movement of the hogshead will be influenced to cause it to move into the proper position over the head of the piston, the resiliency of the springs serving to assist in this operation.

The head Ill is slightly smaller in diameter than the open end of the hogshead I 9 and in order to cause the hogshead to shift laterally so that the head may enter the same, guide rollers 24 are employed. These guide rollers are mounted in radial slots 25 of the head I ll, the rollers being of sturdy construction with their central 00 portions of a thickness substantially twice that of their perpheries and being provided with openings 26 receiving a supporting shaft 21 held in bearings 28 by means -of set screws 29, each end of each bearing having a bolt 30 securing the bearing to the head I0. Thus the rollers 24 are spaced around the periphery of the head I in a manner such that no part of the hogshead can engage the head near the periphery of the head without engaging one or more of the rollers, whereby the hogshead will be guided into proper position for compression of the contents of the same.

In View of the compressibility of the tobacco or other substance, it is diiicult to put enoughv tobacco on the top of the hogshead to ll the same when the tobacco is compressed. Accordingly a charger or lling extension 3| of tapered or circular construction is employed. The lower smaller end portion of this charger is approximately 45 in external diameter while the end portion of the hogshead is substantially :46 in internal diameter. Consequently the small end portion of the charger will enter the end portion of the hogshead. The upper end of the charger is slightly larger in diameter than the lower end providing a ared construction which easily permits the tobacco to be reduced in horizontal area, as well as vertically. The lower -end of the charger of course is of suicient size to permit the stationary head with its rollers to readily pass therethrough.

It will be readily apparent that with the structure described a press isprovided requiring minimum attention both to -control and to operate and yet it is lof a character to be practicaland useful in the compression oi tobacco or other products.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawing and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for compressing tobacco comprising a lower vertically reciprocable head adapted when in its lowermost position to have its upper surface disposed substantially `in alignment withI a supporting surxfacegan upper ycircular stationary head disposed in axial alignment with said reciprocable head, framework supporting said stationary head, said stationary head having spaced slots disposed radially around its circumference, a bearing member mounted on said stationary head ateachside of each slot, -a stub shaft extending 'across each slot'and rhaving its extremities disposed in said bearing members, a roller disposed on said stub shaft,in each of said slots, vand having `a `hub portion `of axial dimension substantially greater'than its rim portion and adapted to be engaged by a hogsheadtelescoped over said stationary head, and resiliently mounted guides associated with said movable head for influencing'the movement of a vehicle with la hogshead thereon into a position betweenxsaid heads.

2. Apparatus for compressing :tobacco ucomprising a lower vertically reciprocable headadapted when in its lowermost position'to have' itsupper surface disposed substantially inpalignment with asupporting surface, anuppercircular-istationary head disposed in axial alignment with said reciprocable head, framework supporting said stationary head, said stationary head having spaced slots disposed radially around its circumi'erence, a bearing member mounted on said stationary head at each side of each slot, a stub shaft extending across each slot and having its extremities disposed in said bearing members, and a roller disposed on said stub shaft, in each -of said'slots, and having a hub portion of axial dimension substantially greater than its rim portion and adapted to be engaged by a hogshead telescoped over said stationary head.

V3. Apparatus for Acompressing tobacco comprising a lower vertically reciprocable head adapted when in its lowermost position to have its upper surface disposed substantially in alignment with a supporting surface, an upper circular stationary :head disposed in .axial valignment with said reciprocable head, and having .spaced slots disposed around its circumference, a bearing memberdisposedat each side of each slot, a stub shaft extending across veach slot and having its extremities Ldisposed vin said bearing members, and 'a roller idisposed ineach of said slots on said stub `shaft and having a hub portion of axial dimensionxsubstantially greater'than its rim portion yand adapted to ybe engaged by a .hogshead disposed oversaid stationary head.

4. Apparatus for use in thecompressing of tobacco comprising, in combination with a supportingsuriace, a reciprocable head, a cooperating stationary head, framework supporting said stationary head, guides for a' tobacco hogshead associated with-said heads, yieldable means mounting said .,guides, the stationary head having radial slots spaced about its periphery, and rollers mounted in said slots and having their peripheries extending .outwardly beyond and downwardly below said stationary head, said rollers being spaced in a `manner .such thatthe hogshead will becaused to engage said rollers if the hogshead is slightlyof centerand properly center the same during theoperation of the press.

.5. Apparatus for compressing tobacco comprising la vertically reciprocable lower head and a stationary upper head, framework supporting said stationary head, yieldable means for guiding a vehicle with a hogshead of tobacco into position over saidlower head, and roller means spaced aroundthecircumference of said upper head with the4 peripheries of lsaid vroller means projecting outwardly beyond Aand downwardly below said :upper head, said roller means being spaced so that the hogshead will becaused to engage said rollerxmeans if the hogshead is substantially in proper position.

STANLEY HATHAWAY. HENRY A. BOST.

REFERENCES CITED VThe followingrreferences are of record in the le of Ythisfpatent:

y UNITED STATES `PATENTS Number 

